New Mobile Payment System for Events Debuts at SXSW

AUSTIN Badges or wristbands embedded with R.F.I.D. chips have become a popular method for transactions at events. Guests go online to link a credit card to their unique device and then simply swipe their wrist or badge at the event to pay for things such as concessions, merchandise, or a fund-raiser donation. A cashless system such as this is not only efficient, but data shows it also results in much higher spend-per-person than a traditional system that only accepts cash or credit cards.

“We do about 100 events a year now that use R.F.I.D. as the method of payment, and we’ve found when people are using an R.F.I.D. item as opposed to their credit card, debit card, or cash, they are spending an average of 30 to 40 percent more,” says Anthony Palermo, C.E.O. of Connect&Go, a Montreal-based company that provides R.F.I.D. solutions for festivals, conferences, and experiential marketing events. “People are just tapping to pay. It’s so much easier, and it keeps you within the experience of the event. It’s the cruise ship model.”

But Palermo says the experience has also shown that some people are not willing to link their credit card to an R.F.I.D. tag. So Monday at South by Southwest, Connect&GO and Mobeewave debuted a new mobile payment solution that accepts debit and credit cards and R.F.I.D. tags all on one device.